General
Agent Nouns (-er, -or, -ist)
Descriptive Adjectives (-ful, -less, -y)
Basic Negation (un-, in-/im-, dis-)
About Word Formation exercises
Word formation describes the processes by which new words are built in English: affixation (prefixes and suffixes), compounding, and conversion. Mastering affixes expands vocabulary. Knowing that dis- means "reversal" and -ful means "full of" helps decode hundreds of words from a handful of rules.
These exercises focus on the suffix patterns tested at B1–C1 level: nouns from verbs and adjectives (-tion/-sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance), adjectives from nouns and verbs (-ful, -less, -ous, -ive, -al), and adverbs from adjectives (-ly). The word-formation tasks in B2 First and C1 Advanced exam papers are directly practised here.
Each exercise presents a base word and a sentence with a blank, requiring you to apply the correct suffix or prefix. This mirrors the exact task format of B2 First Use of English Part 3 and C1 Advanced Use of English Part 3, making these exercises directly exam-relevant.
Check the part of speech of the gap first. After the or an adjective you usually need a noun, and before a noun you often need an adjective. Spelling can change when you add a suffix: happy becomes happiness.
- Noun suffixes: -tion/-sion, -ment, -ness, -ity, -ance/-ence
- Adjective suffixes: -ful, -less, -ous, -ive, -al, -able
- Adverb formation with -ly and its exceptions
- Prefixes: un-, dis-, mis-, over-, under-, re-, pre-
- Negative prefixes: in-/im-/il-/ir- and their spelling rules
- Converting between word classes (analyse → analysis → analytical)